SPEAKER_00: There are moments in the gospel when I wish I could reach into the page and stop someone.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of them.
SPEAKER_00: A young man comes to Jesus with everything going for him.
SPEAKER_00: He's sincere, he's religious, he's morally serious, he wants eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: And by the end of the conversation, Jesus says to him, Come, follow me.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the words Jesus spoke to Peter.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the words he spoke to Andrew, to Matthew.
SPEAKER_00: This young man could have become one of the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: We might know his name today.
SPEAKER_00: We might even have a church named after him.
SPEAKER_00: We could possibly be even celebrating his feast day.
SPEAKER_00: He might have stood beneath the cross.
SPEAKER_00: He might have in on Easter morning.
SPEAKER_00: He might have carried the gospel somewhere into the ancient world.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, Scripture gives us one haunting sentence.
SPEAKER_00: He went away sad.
SPEAKER_00: I've come back to this gospel many times because there is something terribly sad about it.
SPEAKER_00: He was so close.
SPEAKER_00: And what makes this story even more unsettling is that this is not a bad man.
SPEAKER_00: He tells Jesus, all of these things I have observed.
SPEAKER_00: He has kept the commandments, he has tried to live a good life.
SPEAKER_00: And then he asks one of the most dangerous questions we could ever ask God.
SPEAKER_00: What do I still lack?
SPEAKER_00: Be careful.
SPEAKER_00: When you ask Jesus that question, because he may answer it, the young man probably expected another commandment, another prayer, another religious obligation, but instead Jesus goes directly to the place in his heart that he has never surrendered.
SPEAKER_00: He tells him, Go, sell what you have, give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Then come and follow me.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not condemning possessions here.
SPEAKER_00: He's revealing an attachment.
SPEAKER_00: There's a difference.
SPEAKER_00: The problem was not simply that this young man possessed many things.
SPEAKER_00: The problem was that those things had begun to possess him.
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly we understand what Jesus is doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's not trying to take something away from this young man.
SPEAKER_00: He's trying to set him free.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where the first reading becomes so powerful.
SPEAKER_00: Ezekiel experiences the unimaginable loss of his wife, the delight of your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Then God tells Israel that even the temple, the greatest sanctuary in which they had placed their security, that, even that would be taken away from them.
SPEAKER_00: It's a difficult reading.
SPEAKER_00: But beneath it is a spiritual truth that runs throughout the scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Anything we make ultimate other than God will eventually fail us.
SPEAKER_00: Possession, success, reputation, relationships, plans, all of them can be good.
SPEAKER_00: But even good things become dangerous when we ask them to do what only God can do.
SPEAKER_00: And that brings us back to this young man.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus looks into his life and identifies the one thing standing between him and freedom.
SPEAKER_00: And he gives them the invitation of a lifetime.
SPEAKER_00: Come, follow me.
SPEAKER_00: But he can't do it.
SPEAKER_00: And notice something else: Jesus lets him walk away.
SPEAKER_00: That may be one of the most frightening parts of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not chase after him.
SPEAKER_00: He does not lower the demand.
SPEAKER_00: He does not say, wait, well, perhaps I asked too much of you.
SPEAKER_00: No, he loves him enough to tell him the truth and respects him enough to give him the freedom to let him choose.
SPEAKER_00: And the young man chooses what he owns.
SPEAKER_00: But look at what it gives him: sadness.
SPEAKER_00: That's the great irony of this gospel.
SPEAKER_00: He keeps everything and walks away sad.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples leave everything and discover a life they could never have imagined.
SPEAKER_00: So perhaps today the question is not simply, am I a good person?
SPEAKER_00: This young man was a good person.
SPEAKER_00: No, the deeper question is: what could Jesus ask for me that would make me walk away?
SPEAKER_00: What would he ask of me?
SPEAKER_00: What is the one place in my life where I have quietly said, Lord, you can have everything except this?
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe it's money.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a resentment that I refuse to surrender.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's that habit that I know I need to change.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it's simply my need to remain in control.
SPEAKER_00: What do I lack, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: That's a dangerous prayer.
SPEAKER_00: But it may also be the prayer that changes your life and sets you free.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus doesn't reveal our attachments to make our lives smaller, he reveals them because he wants us free enough to follow him.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's what makes this gospel so heartbreaking.
SPEAKER_00: The young man came looking for eternal life.
SPEAKER_00: And eternal life was standing right there in front of him.
SPEAKER_00: He came looking for treasure, and the treasure looked him right in the eyes and said, Hey, come follow me.
SPEAKER_00: But his hands were so full to receive what Jesus was offering, so he walked away.
SPEAKER_00: Do not let the ending of this story be your story.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus puts his finger on something in your life today, something you need to release, something you need to surrender, something that has quietly begun to possess you, well, trust him.
SPEAKER_00: Open your hands.
SPEAKER_00: Because whatever you are afraid of losing is nothing compared with the one who is asking you to follow.
SPEAKER_00: The young man walked away sad.
SPEAKER_00: Peter dropped his nets.
SPEAKER_00: Matthew got up from the table.
SPEAKER_00: The others left their boats, and their lives were never the same.
SPEAKER_00: Today Jesus says the same words to you Come, follow me.
SPEAKER_00: This time, don't walk away.
SPEAKER_00: Get right therein with him.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.